Thursday, January 16, 2014

Am I Overreacting?

I'm thinking of deleting most of my Pinterest boards because of copyright issues. I haven't been contacted by anyone (I know, I know, Nero Wolfe shuddered at the use of 'contact' as a verb) to do so, but after reading of one blogger's experience, with pictures used on her blog, I'm becoming leery of continuing to 'pin' photos even with attribution - which I do try to include on every pin.

I kind of feel guilty since I have a great many followers on Pinterest and this is, in a way, a disservice to them. And really, how grave is the threat?

Well, grave or not, I have no wish to be sued.

Pinterest has been a lot of fun for me, a relaxing way to pass the time - most especially since I am first and foremost a visual sort of person. I look at it as scrap-booking without the actual hobby detritus.

I do not post my own photos because, frankly, I don't take that many interesting pix and more importantly, I still haven't mastered the fine art of posting pix online. I've been given instructions several times, but I just can't seem to get the hang of it - I'm not technically inclined and the whole process sort of scares me.

The same applies to my blog. I use photos I find online when I talk about movies, books or art - thinking that there should hardly be any copyright issues since I am, technically, providing publicity for these creators and criticism and/or opinion commentary should cover my butt in these instances. Creative appropriation and all. But what if I'm wrong?

I've checked over the Creative Commons info and really, if I had to check each and every pix I posted anywhere with some master list then I guess I'd rather not post any pix at all. This is not supposed to be work, after all.

I'm going to spend some time within the next few weeks going over all of my blog posts and deleting those which might have pushed the copyright boundaries. I will probably be re-designing my blog page as well. Hopefully I won't have to totally delete everything. In that case, I'll just shut down.

I have a great deal of fun with my blog, but if the fun becomes cumbersome, then that will be that. I simply can't imagine a blog without pictures, especially one devoted to art, books and movies.

I'm throwing this out for discussion since I really do value your opinions and want to know what you think about all this. I admit I'm feeling a bit dispirited.

Am I overreacting?

Well, I've just returned from deleting a bunch of boards on Pinterest and I feel even more dispirited. Such lovely stuff that I so enjoyed looking at and daydreaming about. Art resources for the future too. But I did what I thought was best. I've still got lots of boards left, so we'll see what happens.

Now to redesign the blog from scratch. Stay tuned.

The photo in my banner is actually my own from a while back. My daughter loaded it for me and I manipulated it to fit. It's a photo of my bulletin board.

P.S. I meant to thank Pat at Mille Fiori Favorit for the original link to Roni Loren's words of warning post and just totally let that slip through what passes for my mind these days. Apologies, Pat. 


26 comments:

  1. I will say this: what happened to that blogger can happen to anyone. Think of pictures like words--you wouldn't want someone using your words without asking you first or giving you proper credit. Pictures are the same thing--they are the photographers words.

    Do I think you will get sued? I doubt it but I would just say use best judgement when using someone else's work. Always use proper attribution and just give your best effort.

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    1. Wise words, Felicia. Thanks. I will continue to show artwork, book covers and movie posters until someone tells me otherwise. If that time should come then that, as they say, will be that. I simply can't conceive of a picture-less blog.

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  2. I generally don't post pictures unless I own the book--I figure if I own the book and I'm "advertising" (as you put it) for the authors, then there shouldn't be a problem. I try to remember to give credit for pictures that should have credit--so hopefully it's all good. I'm not going to change what I'm doing.

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    1. I can't imagine anyone complaining of free publicity for their book, though I can see how the designer might quibble. But it's not easy to find out who designed what book, etc. I'll continue to show covers, etc. for now. We'll just have to see what happens. I am, however, going to re-design my blog and will be using a banner made up of my own photo.

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  3. That blogger's experience sounds awful, and the whole copyright issue is indeed worrisome.

    I have to admit that though I have pages on Pinterest, it's easy to see that credit there quickly goes to the latest pinner, rather than to the image's originator. That's a big problem with the way Pinterest is designed. I will be blogging about a personal home project sometime in the near future, and I'm very concerned that my images will quickly be misattributed. So all of this is a double-edged sword, and I don't think you're over-reacting, Yvette.

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    1. Thanks, Mark. I'm thinking of shutting down my entire Pinterest account at this point. I mean, I erased a bunch of boards, but really, if you can't do something whole-heartedly and enthusiastically - what's the point?

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  4. I had read a similar kind of post a while ago and also became concerned. I mostly use scans of my own book covers on my blog now (my wonderful husband scans them for me). I do agree that images improve a post. I am interested to see what others have to say on this.

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    1. Yes, exactly Tracy. Images catch the eye and do vastly improve a post. No question. I tend to be an all or nothing type person, so I'm hoping I will be able to continue blogging in future. It's all become very worrisome. I mean I want to put out a quality product.

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  5. Thanks Yvette - it is a shame and yet not completely unexpected (i say this as a lawyer who works in education where are are very risk-averse) - as they say, thanks for sharing :)

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    1. I still can't get over the idea that anyone would be irritated by free publicity - especially authors, artists and the like. Pinterest especially, should be a fabulous way for creative people to make their wares known. It's all very confusing at this point.

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  6. One of my boards is a disclaimer. I hope that takes care of the copyright issue. I once had one removed because of copyright, but no one sued.

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    1. Thanks, Gram, but I don't know how much longer I'll be on Pinterest. I've already erased some boards (some of them my favorites) so I'm thinking ah, the heck with it all. That's the problem with creative restriction - it really does stifle ideas.

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  7. I just read the whole article, and I don't know if you are overreacting or not. I'm not on Pinterest, but I do visit, and in terms of both blogs and P. I can't imagine that there are people out there trolling around looking for misuse of photos. Maybe higher profile people but somehow I can't imagine someone coming to your blog and going after you. There are so many things about the internet that haven't been figured out yet. I don't think you need to redesign your blog. For myself, I think I'll just pay more attention to where the photos I put up come from, and ask if it seems like I should.

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  8. It's so hard to know what to do. I make no profit from my blog so it's not as if I'm trying to make money off people's creations. I like your advice: pay more attention to where the photos come from and ask if it seems like I should. Thanks, Nan.

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  9. Dear Yvette - I have read the blog, and like several others found it very disturbing.
    Mostly I use my own photos, or get them from wikipedia. I shall be very, very, careful in the future as to what I use.
    It is really easy to post your own photos online, may be someone in your family or a friend could help you.
    I have just noticed the new photo of your little grandson. How he has grown and what a cute little fellow he is.

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    1. Thanks Rosemary, I am so smitten with my grandchildren. :) Although I know it supposed to be easy to post your photos online, I still haven't gotten the hang of it. My daughter just gets exasperated. :) She sends me photos of the kids and that's why you see them on my blog. I will give it another try when I'm feeling more patient.

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  10. Hi again, Yvette,

    I've been thinking a lot about this posting, mulling it over in my mind, and my guess is that the blogger referenced probably accessed the site of a professional photographer and used a photo that was on his or her portfolio or "gallery" page.

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    1. It's possible, Mark. I've just decided to be extra cautious. Sometimes you can't tell from whence the photo came at all. Those are the ones I'm currently - little by little - culling from my remaining Pinterest boards.

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  11. I did have someone ask me to remove a pic once from my blog, but he was very nice about it. I've been leery ever since. I guess it's better to be safe than sorry. Takes some of the fun out of it though. Heading over to Pinterest to delete some boards:)

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    1. Yes, you've hit the nail on the head, Peggy Ann. It does take the fun out of it. I've deleted quite a few boards even if I loved what I'd pinned. But maybe I can just begin again - more cautiously this time. Haven't decided. :)

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  12. Yvette, I don't know anything about Pinterest. However, as far as blogs go, I think they're largely non-commercial and there shouldn't be a problem using book covers and film posters in context of reviews as no profit is involved. By and large authors are supportive, and I suspect, quietly thrilled to see their books reviewed on as many blogs and ezines as possible. There is no misuse. I think the case you mentioned was just a one-off thing. It's not like the IRS is going to come after you!

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    1. I would agree with you, Prashant. But I'm going to be extra cautious just in case. No one wants to become a 'test' case.

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  13. Sorry to read this so late, Yvette. I was also very troubled by that bloggers experience and that is why I put the link to the article in my post. I've seen many people use photos in their blogs over the years with no attribution and this incident was the first one that I heard of having been sued for it. When I use a photo that is not my own I always try to put a photo source link to where I found it, The blogger gave some good sources of copyright free photo sources that can be good to use.

    As far as Pinterest, I have been contacted from time to time by them telling me that they had been asked to take down a pin that was on one of my boards --,it was always a pin I pinned from someone else. I never thought much about it, but this article also made me worry. I have not edited my Pinterest boards as yet, but I am considering taking down pins that do not lead back to a verifiable source. It will take me many hours to do that and would be much easier to just delete the whole thing, which I'd hate to do. Copyright law is so confusing. I wish Pinterest would make a statement about what is considered safe to pin.

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  14. Thanks for your input, Pat. I too wish that Pinterest would get its act together and make a definitive statement instead of their wink-wink one. Of course it's the pinner's fault - Pinterest would be 'shocked, shocked' if anyone pinned something they didn't 'own' the rights to. What nonsense. They know perfectly well what's going on.

    I've taken down several boards and am considering taking down a few more and then beginning again from scratch. I think that's going to be much easier than the hit or miss thing of searching endlessly for root source. The funny thing is I've only been contacted by Pinterest once for a photo removal. Of all the pix and all the boards I had and still have, that's not doing too bad. But you never know. I'd much rather be safe than sorry.

    As for using movie posters, book covers and artwork from museums and such, I'm treading uneasily. So far in all the postings I've done, no one's complained about anything. (Now and then a picture will disappear or go blank, but that's it.) But I am, slowly but surely, trimming my blog.

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